Portal:Current events/2017 May 18

• Syrian Civil War, American-led intervention in Syria
  • United States aircraft bomb a convoy belonging to the Syrian pro-government militia within a so-called "deconfliction zone" around Al-Tanf. (CBS News) (Independent)
  • During a failed offensive on the Damascus-Aleppo road, ISIS massacres 52 residents of a village east of Salamiyah, Hama Governorate. ( Morning Star Online)^{[permanent dead link]}
  • Dozens of displaced civilians from al-Khafse and nearby villages in the countryside of Manbij gather in the village of Arbaa al-Kabir to protest against the Bashar al-Assad government, demanding the removal of pro-Assad forces from their villages and calling for the intervention of the Syrian Democratic Forces after accusing regime forces of looting houses and threatening residents. (Ara News)
• In a shooting incident near Huwara in the West Bank, a mob of some 200 Arabs hurl stones and rocks toward an Israeli car and try to lynch the driver. The Israeli driver fires his weapon, killing one Palestinian. (Arutz Sheva)

• Roger Ailes, the former Chairman and founding CEO of Fox News, dies at the age of 77. (The Washington Post via MSN)
• Chris Cornell, the lead vocalist for the Seattle rock band Soundgarden, commits suicide by hanging in Detroit, Michigan after a concert at the age of 52. (The New York Times)
• The 2017 season of the Pemberton Music Festival, a prominent music festival scheduled to occur July 13–16 in the Canadian city of Pemberton, British Columbia, is cancelled following declaration of bankruptcy by the organizers. (Global News)

• 2017 Times Square car attack
  • A car crashes into pedestrians in New York City's Times Square, killing one person and injuring several others. Police are investigating the incident as an accident. (NBC News) (CNN) (BBC)

• Turkey–United States relations
  • The U.S. summons Turkish ambassador Serdar Kılıç after violence between protesters and Turkish security personnel outside the Embassy of Turkey, Washington, D.C. leaves over a dozen people injured. U.S. Senator John McCain calls on the Trump administration to expel the ambassador. (BBC)

• Iranian presidential election, 2017
  • Official campaigning ends with opinion polling showing Hassan Rouhani and Ebrahim Raisi as the two leading candidates. (Euronews)